Hayes Road widening could be delayed

Macomb County road officials had hoped to embark this summer on a major project to widen Hayes Road from two to five lanes from 21 to 23 Mile roads.

That’s still the hope, but the timetable could be pushed back.

“We wanted to build it this year; we hoped to have it done this year,” said Robert Hoepfner, director of the Macomb County Department of Roads. “But every time we turn around, there’s something else.”

The “something else” to which Hoepfner referred is nothing unusual; just requirements attached to the federal dollars that come from Washington that will finance the lion’s share of the work.

Under federal rules, Hoepfner said, any project of one mile or more that will increase vehicle capacity must first undergo an environmental assessment to determine the impact of the proposed work on the surrounding community.

Hoepfner didn’t exactly complain about the requirements.

“If those are the rules, we have to follow them,” he said.

But the various hoops can produce frustration. For example: One of the requirements required road officials to examine the feasibility of building sound-deadening concrete walls on either side of the road. In the case of Hayes Road, Hoepfner said, the walls would cost about four times the amount of the road work itself.

The federal government also asked the county to consider widening the road to four lanes instead of five. Such a project would do little to improve traffic flow because of the inevitable backups from motorists turning left, Hoepfner said.

“That destroys the capacity of the roads,” he said.

Despite the sometimes-burdensome federal requirements, the road czar said he’s still “hopeful” the Hayes Road project can get started before the end of 2013. Federal funds will cover 80 percent of the construction costs while the remaining 20 percent will be shared by the road department and Shelby and Macomb townships. Both of those communities already have approved cost-sharing agreements.